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TL;DR:

  • George Harrison discussed the time The Beatles’ “Revolution” was used in a Nike advertisement.
  • He said Yoko Ono allowed Nike to use the original recording of the song.
  • George explained why the commercial made him so upset.
George Harrison with a guitar
George Harrison | Fox Photos/Getty Images

George Harrison was asked why The Beatles‘ “Revolution” was used in a Nike advertisement. Subsequently, he said he wasn’t happy with this use of the Fab Four’s music. Notably, “Revolution” performed differently in the United States and the United Kingdom.

George Harrison said John Lennon’s son was supposed to record The Beatles’ ‘Revolution’ for a Nike commercial

The book George Harrison on George Harrison: Interview and Encounters includes an interview from 1987. In it, George was asked why “Revolution” appeared in a Nike commercial. “From what I understand, they were just going to use the song, rerecord it with [John Lennon’s son] Julian Lennon, but Yoko got really pissed off at that idea because I don’t think she likes Julian, and she insisted that it be the Beatles version,” he said. 

George had strong words for Yoko. “She has no right to insist that because there’s a conflict of interest — it’s in The Beatles’ and Apple [Record]‘s interest not to have our records touted about on TV commercials, otherwise all the songs we made could be advertising everything from hot dogs to ladies’ brassieres,” he continued.

George Harrison said the use of The Beatles’ music in pop culture sometimes turned them into ‘prostitutes’

George didn’t like this commercialization of the Fab Four. “We could have done our Coca-Cola commercials, just like everybody else,” he said. “We tried to have a little discretion, keep a little taste; that’s what we felt. 

“The four of us tried to keep our songs in running orders on the records, we tried to make good records, we tried to do something as quality and something to be proud of,” he added. “When it’s out of our hands, it’s like we’re made into prostitutes.” 

The Nike “Revolution” commercial would go down as an infamous chapter in the history of the Fab Four. George lamented that The Beatles did not have full control over their own discography. 

How ‘Revolution’ performed on the pop charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

“Revolution” was the B-side to “Hey Jude” and it became a modest hit in its own right in the United States. “Revolution” reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for 11 weeks. The single version of the tune appeared on the compilation album 1967–1970. The compilation reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a week and stayed on the chart for 182 weeks altogether. Besides 1, 1967-1970 remains the group’s most popular compilation album in the U.S.

On the other hand, The Official Charts Company reports “Revolution” never charted in the United Kingdom. There, 1967-1970 reached No. 2 and remained on the chart for 131 weeks.

“Revolution” is a classic hard rock song even if George didn’t like Nike using it. 

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